Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will consider the documents after a brief recess.
---SHORT RECESS
I will call committee back to order. Carrying over from yesterday on the Department of Health and Social Services. Does the Minister wish to bring in witnesses?
Yes, please.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister Abernethy, would you like to introduce your witnesses for the record, please.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me today on my left is Bruce Cooper, who is the deputy minister of Health and Social Services, and on my right, Jeannie Mathison, who is the director of Finance.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. We have left off and today we're going to start on pages 187 and 188, the Department of Health and Social Services diagnostic and therapeutic services and operations expenditures summary, $26,103,000. We will proceed to questions on these two pages on this activity. Any questions? Recognizing Mr. R.J. Simpson, and next, Mr. Thompson. Proceed, Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry if this is not the correct section. I hope we don't have a repeat of yesterday, but I see that this is where audiology is contained. I want to make sure that this is the funding that would make the audiologists from Yellowknife to Hay River to perform services, generally for seniors in relation to hearing aids and what not. Is this the correct section?
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Abernethy.
Yes, Mr. Chair, this is the section where audiologists fall under. This is the area that funds them. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I see that there's a significant increase in therapeutic services. I wonder if that is going to have an effect on the audiologists and their travel schedule to Hay River. I probably, almost as much as any other issue I hear from seniors, is it's about the audiologists and the frequency of the visits. I believe it's every six months or thereabouts that the audiologists travel to Hay River.
What that means is that, in that interim, often people have issues with their hearing aids and they have no one to help them resolve those issues. Often, these hearing aids just go to the drawer and they're sitting there for a few months. I mean, they are expensive devices, too. These hearing aids are very expensive and we have seniors who can't use them for months on end, which really affects quality of life. I'm hopeful here. I see an increase, so are we going to get more audiologists visits to Hay River? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I hear the Member's concerns and I'll certainly raise those with the department for a discussion moving forward. The increase in this area is for enhanced rehab services for children, which includes a speech language pathologist and occupational therapist, an audiologist, and an admin, but these are designed and being put in place as a result of the Early Childhood Development Action Plan, so not focused on the clients that the Member is referencing. These positions won't necessarily increase the number of trips to Hay River, but I hear the concern. I recognize it. I'll certainly raise it with the board and CEO and the department.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you. I believe there's also a service where people can send in their hearing aids for repair, but from what I've been told, it can take up to months to get them back. What people have started to do is just go south, like they do in Hay River for sorts of medical services, actually. They go south and have their hearing aids fine-tuned in the South. I hear people talk about they go down to Edmonton for the week. They drop their hearing aid off. Somehow it gets either fixed there or sent to Ontario, fixed, and sent back in time for them to pick it up Friday after spending the week there and they head back home. It's possible to have these things expedited. Is that something that the department has identified as an issue? Is the speed or, you know, the time it takes to get these hearing aids fixed when they're sent in? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the situation has been raised with me. I appreciate the Member raising it. I do hear the Member. I will bring these concerns to the department. We'll have a discussion to see what we can do to help our residents who are frustrated by this. I don't have an answer for the Member. I don't know enough to say for sure exactly what timelines are, or those types of things, but I hear the Member's concerns. We will raise them, absolutely.
Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you. I'll follow up with the Minister so I can get a little more information and let my constituents know what's going on with this issue and let them know that the Minister is actually looking into it. Thank you for the answers, and nothing further. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Moving on, Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In regard to autism and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, where would we find that increase in the budget? I know it is in this area, but where is it? Which line item is it? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is the right section of the budget, and it falls under the line item "therapeutic services." Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I have to congratulate the department for doing this. I think it is a very good, positive step. So what are the plans for doing this? Is this going to be regionalized, or is this going to be based out of Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there are currently some services being provided out of Yellowknife, but we recognize that we need to do more at a territorial level. There will be the new child development team coordinator position that will be located in Inuvik, that can help us with the northern part of the territory. It's all currently being delivered out of Yellowknife at this point. There is also the new FASD family liaison, who is going to be located in Yellowknife, and the ASD program coordinator, who is also going to be in Yellowknife, but these will be providing services at a territorial level.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I guess my big concern is that I know, in talking with teachers and parents, we are seeing a higher increase of autism in my riding. Actually, my sister who lived down south is actually highly involved in autism and works with an autistic child, and so my concern is: how can we actually do justice to this if we only have a position in Yellowknife that is looking at the southern part and a position in Inuvik looking after the northern part? Because this is going to be a huge demand, and how can the department guarantee that we are going to see better service in this area? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, these are coordinator-type positions that are actually trying to coordinate the services. They are not necessarily a frontline provider, but they are helping individuals get to where they need the assessments, do get the services that they require. They are also helping coordinate individuals coming in to where different assessments could be done and helping, when appropriate, having some of our professionals go out to do assessments, as well. They are providing territorial services. It does not exist today to this degree. It's certainly an enhancement to services. We will continue to monitor as we roll out to make sure that residents across the Northwest Territories with the multi-regional approach as well as the new positions we are putting in are getting the service they need and getting the coordination they need. We see a demand not just in the Deh Cho but other regions across the territory, so we want to make sure that we are in a position to provide that coordination as best we can to all residents of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not asking just for the Nahendeh riding and the Deh Cho. I totally understand that. My biggest issue, though, is we are starting to see a huge number of children being diagnosed with autism, and it is a lot of work. I mean, I know down south they actually have a person who works one-on-one with the child, whereas we have classroom assistants and people out there. I applaud the department for providing this service. I think it's a great first step. However, we need to get more positions in the communities or regional centres, anyway, that we can spread out the workload. I understand having a coordinator here, in Yellowknife, for FASD and autism is great, but we are talking a huge number. As more people become aware of these situations and diagnoses of our youth, it's a big demand, and I think we are going to overload the two or three positions. I honestly believe we are going to see a huger increase in that, so I understand the department is looking at it, but are they looking at potentially building up the capacity of these teams? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I hear the Member. I agree with the Member. It's not just these individuals who are providing services, but there are lots of other groups out there that we will be partnering with. The disabilities council has different programs, there are other partners we will be working with, so there are multiple teams involved in this. This coordinator is helping people make sure that they are getting the services. I hear the Member, and, as part of the Early Childhood Development plan, moving forward, there is an enhancement in this area in subsequent years, so we will be coming forward in the business planning process with more information on future expansions, keeping in mind that it all needs to go through our normal budgeting process and whatnot, but the plan calls for more enhancement in this area over time.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister and department looking at that. I understand the process, and I totally agree with you, and it could not happen sooner. I honestly believe, if we could get it going into the next year's budget, it would have a huge impact. Like I said, in my riding I know in one classroom that there were three or four who have been diagnosed, and it's kind of a different range within autism, and then FASD is huge across the territories. So I would just encourage the department to look at implementing it next year, and I can guarantee I will be supporting something like that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Comments from the Minister? Nothing from the Minister. Anything further on this activity? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So, because the therapeutic services are located here, in this section, I am wondering if the Minister can tell us what the plan is for these services in Yellowknife, moving forward with the new Stanton hospital? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. A bunch of the moves obviously are going to happen in subsequent fiscal years, given when the hospital intended to open and the transition supposed to happen, but, ultimately, what we are looking to do is there are going to be a number of positions in the new hospital that are in-patient OT/PT and other therapeutic services. Outpatient therapeutic or other outpatient therapeutic services such as OT/PT are intended to be in the old Stanton building. We will have to go through a transition phase as that building is renovated to meet the needs. I have had the opportunity to visit OT/PT as an example in the existing Stanton, and, in my opinion, it is sadly overcrowded and entirely too small to provide the high rate of services that I know are our residents' due, so I really applaud the people who are in there because they do amazing work in what I would consider adverse situations. They do good work. We are going to fix their space.
Thank you. I will remind the Minister to let us know when he is done talking so the sound team knows when to change the mics. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the response from the Minister. So I heard him talk about physiotherapy and occupational therapy. There are a number of other areas of the therapeutic services, such as audiology, speech, and so on. What is happening with those parts of rehab services in Yellowknife with the new hospital? Are they going to be in the old hospital, or are they going to be moved off site? What is happening with those? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I believe the information is online, but I will verify that for the Member. We are looking at using basically all the space in the old Stanton facility. Level 1 is going to be extended care. It's also going to have some other transcription services, primary clinics, food and laundry services for extended care and long-term care. It's also going to have the outpatient rehab program, which includes occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech-language pathology, and audiology. Levels 2 and 3 are going to be long-term care.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am pretty sure I heard the Minister say that all of these rehab services are going to continue to operate out of the old Stanton Hospital. What happens, though, in the interim when the old hospital is being retrofitted to better accommodate those services? Where are they going to go? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, currently, speech and audiology are actually in the Stanton Clinic. I think it is called the clinic. It is the one beside McDonald's. They will stay there during the retrofit. Physio and occupational therapy, obviously, we are going to have to find alternate space during the transition phase. That hasn't been finalized as far as I am aware. I haven't been briefed on that in a couple weeks. When I know, you will know. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
